It is a beautiful place, this City of Delphi, beautiful in a way I don't dare try to fully contain with words. It's not nearly high enough in the mountains of Greece for that to be it's most impressive fact, nor is the hike to the archeological strenuous enough for it to be the featured description. The ruins are very near totally ruined, nothing but huge blocks of stone thrown about the place almost carelessly. Anything of value has been long since excavated and removed to the museum which was closed by the time I made it into town. I get the feeling that they took literally everything that they could move, picking at the site like hyenas at a kill, leaving only the bare bones remaining.
Those bare bones, though, are chillingly awesome.
I may be somewhat vulnerable to the mystical mood, and it helps that Apollo was brother to Artemis, whose Roman self shares my name. I love the stories involved with these sites, historically true but seeming more like a fantastic piece of fiction nowadays. Kings and emperors consulting the Oracle before wars, before peace, before resettling an empire (in the case of Constantinople). And walking in the steps leading to the Temple of Apollo to where the Oracle was supposed to have done the most prophesying, I felt like I was walking through the words of a fantastic dream.
There really wasn't much to see on the archeological site and I finished walking through it in just about two hours. The most impressive things to me were the remaining pieces of the Temple of Apollo. Only a few columns remain, but the coloring was such a contrast to the mountains and sky that I stared for quite some time. When I finally stood to go, I felt like I was shaking myself awake.
Below the official archeological site, there are two more excavations that I guess didn't make the cut. One is an ancient gymnasium and the other is a sanctuary dedicated to Athena. When I got down the the gym, I couldn't help myself and broke out into a run, feeling like a wild thing finally set free. I'm pretty sure I looked like a fool but it was just so, so refreshing! The wind in my hair, the feeling of firm ground beneath my feet, a sense of the ghosts of ancient Olympians joining my side for a brief rush -- it was so amazing! I'm committed to waking up early tomorrow to watch the sun rise over this ancient gym and getting in at least another lap around it. I imagine that Achilles is to my left, Hercules to my right, that the strength of the Titans seeps up through the soles of my sandaled feet. Plus, the view is breathtaking. If I could regularly go to a gym situated amidst green, gorgeous hills, I would go every day.
To get to Delphi, I caught a bus out of Athens at 1pm. I managed to sit in the front row, getting what I think is the best seat on the bus. It was just under a 3 hour ride. Delphi is a tiny, tiny town. My hotel is right by the bus stop, so I managed to drop all my things off and walk to the site less than a km away, getting there at just about 4pm. After walking through the ruins, I headed back to my hotel at just before 8pm, with the sun slowly beginning it's inevitable descent.
There was a group of guys ahead of me, all stopped and staring intently down to the ground, cameras out. When I passed them, I saw that it was only because of a huge grasshopper that they were all so excited. One of the guys noticed me noticing them, so I casually threw out, "Didn't realize you guys were so into bugs!" as I walked by.
A few minutes later, when I'd stopped by the cliff-side of the road, stopped by the fantastic view, one of the guys jokingly called out "Don't jump! Life is too beautiful!"
We ended up walking back to Delphi together. Most of them were related in some way or other, being all French with one Greek friend. it was a very enjoyable walk back. We parted ways when I continued on to the town center and them turning towards their car, heading back to Athens. meeting them and talking with them made me very happy especially since they were just normal people. A few of the pele in my hostel last night were weird, like a kid from Amsterdam who talked like a puppet and a pair of Spanish girls who wouldn't stop giggling. I can't wait until Andreina gets here.
Until then, I'll start working out! Perhaps this inspiration is the Oracle's answer, coming to me like a whisper across the wind. Perhaps the land is the inspiration itself, touching me the same way it touched those ancient Greeks. If Delphi was this great, I'm even more excited than ever for my trip to Meteora tomorrow!
Location:Delphi, Greece
Oedipus Rex kept going through my head this entire post
ReplyDelete^_^ my Greek host in Santorini insisted that he knew where the gold was, the gold that the old king must have been taking to the Oracle before he was killed by Oedipus. He says its in a cave on the way to Delphi, and I told him not to say anymore because I'd be tempted to grab it for myself!
ReplyDeleteI kept thinking about 300 personally!